No Way to Promote Israel

Amid concerns over the Hamas coup in Gaza this month, some Jews found
something different to worry about instead of the question of whether
Islamist killers were closer to their goal of annihilating the State of
Israel.

An unlikely alliance of Orthodox Jews and feminists were dismayed over
the fact that Israel's New York City consulate assisted an American
"men's" magazine in getting female soldiers to reveal a great deal of
flesh for its photographers in front of scenic backdrops. Even worse,
Israel's diplomats in the Big Apple also helped promote the photo
spread at an official reception in honor of Maxim magazine.

Susan Weidman Schneider, editor-in-chief of Lilith, the journal most
closely associated with Jewish feminism, denounced the consulate's
involvement as "sexist.' Some Orthodox Jews denounced the project as
demonstrating a shameful lack of morality. An emergency meeting of the
Knesset to deal with this shandah was even threatened.

In response, both consulate officials and cover girl Gal Gadot -- "Miss
Israel 2004," and a former Israel Defense Force fitness instructor -- responded to the brouhaha as if critics were not only hopeless squares, but also ignorant of the impact that Ms. Gadot's lithe form could have on Israel's public-relations problems
in this country.

David Saranga, Israel's consul for media and public affairs in the
media capital of the world, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that
Maxim was a "serious magazine," and that his job was "to promote Israel
as a normal country, particularly among the magazine's young male
readership."

Alas, I am such a policy wonk that I don't read Maxim, and so can
neither confirm nor deny its "seriousness." Informed sources tell me
that it's not as explicit as other examples of this genre, so perhaps
we should take Saranga at his word on that point.

But I was once a "young male," and I'm sure that the origin of pretty
girls whose pictures my generation leered at had no impact on our
opinions about politics, either domestic or foreign. I doubt that it's
much different for Maxim's readers today.

Granted, if Maxim's audience were presented with dueling photo essays
of Gazans in burqas and Israelis in skimpy swimwear, I suppose they
might decide Israel would be more entitled to most-favored nation
trading status than a putative "Palestine."

But the real problem is not the consulate's lack of concern for the
dignity of their country. It is the very notion that anyone will be
more willing to help Israel if they think its people are sexy. And it's
no different for those who think Americans will support the Jewish
state if they know how smart Israelis are.

The Israel21c campaign, which aided the Maxim project along with the consulate, helps promote Israel's image as a high-tech wonderland full of academics and entrepreneurs who are curing
diseases and building the modern equivalent of the better mousetrap,
which will motivate the world to beat a path to its door. The stories
they circulate are nice. But they do nothing to change the views of
those who think that Israel is a wicked oppressor of poor Palestinians.

And it is that canard -- not the fact that "young American males" might
not know just how hot Israeli girls might be or whether Israeli
geniuses are finding a cure for cancer -- that is the reason why some
American campuses and churches are hotbeds of hostility to Israel.

So long as the lies about Israel's supposed cruelty and responsibility
for not only the continuation of the conflict with the Palestinians but
the mess in the Middle East in general are being given a serious
hearing, all efforts to change the topic to how clever Israelis are or
how cute their women might be will be a waste of time.

What's wrong is not the lack of exposure of Israeli bodies, but of arguments that its cause is just and that its enemies are vile Islamist Holocaust-denying murderers.

Take, for example, the cover story in The Philadelphia Inquirer on
Sunday, June 24, about the economic and cultural gap between the West
Bank and Gaza. While its facts about the backwardness of Gaza were
indisputable, the causes for this gap, presented almost in passing,
were put down largely to the creation of the State of Israel in 1948,
and the restrictions on travel imposed by Israel and the number of
refugees in each area.

Unmentioned in the otherwise unexceptionable piece were the causes of
the 1949 armistice lines (an Arab refusal to accept statehood alongside
a Jewish state), the reasons for the restrictions (the widely popular
Palestinian cultural practice of supporting terrorism, especially
suicide bombing), and the refusal of the Palestinians and the Arab
world to resettle their refugees, as the Jews did theirs after 1949.

Witness, also the decision last week of both The New York Times and The Washington Post to give space on their op-ed pages to spokesmen for
Hamas. If terrorists whose goal is the annihilation of Israel are now
part of the national conversation, what's wrong is not the lack of
exposure of Israeli bodies, but of arguments that its cause is just and
that its enemies are vile Islamist Holocaust-denying murderers.

It is a bitter irony that ever since Israel resolved to make
unprecedented concessions to its foes for the sake of peace that its
support abroad has declined. British trade unions and academics were
not announcing boycotts of Israel prior to Oslo. But since 1993, the
notion that Israelis no longer believe in the right of Jews to live in
their ancestral homeland has helped fuel a growing anti-Zionist
movement in the West.

Whitewashing the Foe

Most Israelis support territorial compromise so long as they get peace
in return. But their diplomats have spent so much effort either
whitewashing their supposed peace partners (as they did for Yasser
Arafat during the heyday of Oslo) or propping them up (as they are
doing now for Mahmoud Abbas) that it is no longer entirely clear to
many Westerners that what is at stake is the right of the Jews to their
own country, not the supposed right of Palestinians to destroy it to
achieve sovereignty themselves. They allowed the dialogue on the Middle
East to be one that balanced Palestinian "rights" against Israeli
"security," forgetting that the former will always trump the latter in
the court of public opinion.

If Israel's envoys want to catch the imagination of American youth,
they need to forget about the cheesecake. The bad press their country
gets is based on unchallenged pro-Arab propaganda and a lack of
advocacy for the rights of Jews, not foreign skin rags getting access
to its prettiest women.

The opinions expressed in the comment section are the personal views of the commenters. Comments are moderated, so please keep it civil.

Visitor Comments: 24

(24)
Lauryn,
July 26, 2007 2:27 AM

It shows that they're like us

I don't think that the way some people are hoping pictures of Miss Israel will help Israel's image in America is by how "hot" or sexy Israelis are. What they might do, though, in whatever small way, is show people who don't know it that Israelis are like us. And if they know that Israelis are like us, not an oppressive, fundamentalist nation like many in the Middle East are, someone here and there might realize that this is a country we have more in common with than any other in the region.

(23)
mike Cunningham-Urtzell,
July 12, 2007 12:18 AM

A weak 'give, give' Israel will be luck to survive.

I totally agree with what Jonathan Tobin has written re concessions to the Palestinians - they have never, and will never be enough! Can I remind my fellow Jews that in 1971 PLO Executive Member Zahir Muhsein said that the Palestinian people did not exist. that the creation of a Palestinian State was onlt a means of continuing their struggle against the State of Israel and for Arab unity. As I see it the Palestinians (so called) have no intention of coming to any agreement with the state of Israel - Israel's very existence will never be accepted, and we had better make political and military decision against that reality. Michael Cunningham-Urtzell

(22)
Larin R. Kerr,
July 5, 2007 2:19 PM

Tobin is correct

We must make the world hear the wrongness of the "pro-Arab propaganda" and the goodness that Israel has and is doing. And Israel needs to stop making concessions to ALL their enemies -- including those who degrade their sacred honor. Too much land and too much flesh has been given to no benefit to Israel and Jews as a whole.>>> In response to Andrew: I'd rather be on a high horse than wallowing in the mud. In a different perspective: I'd rather see my daughters and granddaughters with a baby in their arms than with any kind of a weapon.

(21)
Andrew,
July 4, 2007 10:44 AM

Get off your high horse

First time I've ever commented on an Aish story, I usually just read and enjoy them. This however is just a waste of time. Men enjoy looking at pretty girls with nice bodies. In the West this is acceptable. I'd prefer American Maxim readers to think Israeli female soldiers are 'hot', rather than not think about them at all.

(20)
Ellyn,
July 3, 2007 5:07 PM

Right on!

You make the point explicitly and well!!

(19)
shira,
July 3, 2007 9:32 AM

tragedy or tragedies.

as i sit here fasting, mourning the day Moshe broke the tablets and the Romans' broke through the Jerusalem I cry reading the comments for this article. Nothing will change our situation in Israel like each and every one of us working on ourselves. The politicians are Hashem's puppets, as is Bush and everyone else involved. Maxim readers generally will not change much because in truth-even in the holocaust many gentiles were friends with the Jews but when the propganda started flowing, they went against the Jews. (yes we know many stories where Gentiles stayed true, but those are few and far between, unfortunately).Let us not forget that selling sex degrades the holiness that it truly should be. it's the deepest of spiritual connections when done in the proper manner. our inside, our spiritual elements is what breaks us from animals and it is NEVER EVER too late to rise above. One reader commented "we are not holy"- well let us become holy by changing our actions and not sitting idly by. we become holy through our actions, even without our Temple we can still be holy. But Maxim coverpage is not the way.

(18)
leah,
July 2, 2007 9:31 PM

Woah, Alan Schwarz, I think you missed the entire point!

It appears as though you wrote your opinion with an answer already in mind when you were reading only the first few lines of this article. It is obvious that you have missed the point. No one is saying that Israeli women are not beautiful. What the article is saying is that Israel and the Jews are different-we are Ohr lagoyim-- a light unot Nations. We are not like all of the others and certainly we are not like the others in exposing ourselves to the eyes of any viewers in a come hither yon type of manner. If you want to be taken seriously, act seriously! Don't expose your body and then say, "Hey why won't anyone take us seriously!Waaaaa waaah waaah.Don't be an imbicile. We are different!We are fighting for the rights of Israel to be recognized as a nation and by displaying ourselves in a lowly manner we miss the opportunity to be seen as a nation to value. We end up being seen in that very low manner that we think we are not displaying. If youv'e got a brick of gold in your hands , would you leave it out on the table to let anyone take a peek, or would you lay it on a velvet cloth and adorn it? It's your choice , Alan, which one do you think displays something to be valued?

(17)
Andy,
July 2, 2007 9:48 AM

the message Israel sends is Jews don't deserve a Jewish State

"It is a bitter irony that ever since Israel resolved to make unprecedented concessions to its foes for the sake of peace that its support abroad has declined" When the Jews are willing to give away their land without anything concrete in return it's no surprise that they lose the support of the nations.

The nations will surly not take the unpopular stance of angering a billion Muslims to support the Jewish State because Israel is a "fun"place with sexy women.

(16)
Alan Schwarz,
July 2, 2007 6:27 AM

These girls deserve to be recognized not only as women who have served in the IDF but who represent the beauty that Israel has to offer the world. The external is merely a reflection of the internal and these are beautiful women.. Maybe their presence will encourage Jewish men of IDF age to make Aliyah. Israel is a democracy and deserves as much positive media coverage as possible. Not everyone is Orthodox who lives in Israel and fights for Israel.

(15)
dov chernok,
July 2, 2007 3:54 AM

article was wellreasoned but where is the outrage? Israel society is sinking in that it is losing all moral sense. The picture in question was outright pornographic and it bore the seal of the State of Israel. The Arabs cannot destroy Israel but the loss of all moral sense will.

(14)
Mary,
July 1, 2007 11:44 PM

Be thankful for small favors.

When Israel was supposed to be a light unto the nations I don't think God meant a red light as in a prostitute's alley.

(13)
David Altschul,
July 1, 2007 7:01 PM

This time, Tobin gets it backward

I'll bet my Roth IRA against Mr. Tobin's salary that some MAXIM readers don't know that: Arabs massacred Jews at Hebron; Arabs left Israel in 1948 at the urging of their own religious leaders; the Arab League rejected land-for-peace in September of 1967; the Hamas & PLO covenants stand for the destruction of Israel; IDF members who surrounded Arab troops in the Six-Day War provided those enemies with water to keep them alive. Amidst all that ignorance, if it takes a few spathic IDF members to build empathic thought-and-emotion paths connected with Israel, I don't think those of us who care about Israel's survival can afford feminist or frum hauteur. Do we really have all the friends we need?

(12)
MAURICE RABINOVITCH,
July 1, 2007 6:58 PM

The pictures were in good taste - Israeli beauty

There is nothing wrong in showing that Israel is a country like many others and narrow minded bigots should monitor their own behaviour rather than criticizing others.

(11)
Mark,
July 1, 2007 3:43 PM

Are naked bodies really the best way to promote Israel?

The "Torah" is the best way to promote Israel...pure and simple!

(10)
leslie hulkower,
July 1, 2007 2:22 PM

are you kidding

its the year2007 we are not holy people ,we are human.can we run away from a picture? just because it shows a woman in a bathing suit.if you don't like it don't look.isn't it time we grow up. sex is a big piece of our lives if we accept it we can live a little better

(9)
Anonymous,
July 1, 2007 1:06 PM

Combat propaganda with truth

What if signs above all the major highways and arteries in Israel proclaimed"LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOUR SELF"in necessary languages... which is the true raison d'etre for Israel's right to exist. Leading the nations of the world in that concept will restore Israel's rights..not its intellectual powers or beauty of the women.Maybe another blue & white flag can be designed, with that dictum, to be flown next to the standard Israeli flag.

(8)
Anonymous,
July 1, 2007 11:27 AM

Tobin nails the message on the head!

I totally agree with the message of this article. Trying to use flesh to sell a message of normalcy in a country that clearly isn't normal is damaging. The only real claim we have to the land of Israel is rooted in our religious beliefs (as is evidenced by the fact that the original secular Zionist would have settled for Uganda). When we show ourselves to be a nation devoid of any moral high ground, the world will simply turn against us more as we will begin to lose the support of those who do see us as a G-dly nation!

(7)
Channah,
July 1, 2007 11:22 AM

more truth and less ''spin '' definatly needed

Kol ha Kavod on this article. As a proud convert to judaism and avid supporter of Israel i have had to put up with increasing anti semitic and anti isreal predjudice in the last few years , the majority of which comes from sheer media bias in all its forms.The public is presented with a pro palastinian and anti israel sentiment the majority of the time. ive lost count of how many times - as a jew - i have personally been blamed for all of Isreal's actions - as if I was running the country single handed. This increases when people find out i converted - with mouths open wide in shock at the thought that any one would want to become a jew let alone be insane enough to support Israel! In the face of the worlds shock at the fact that jews and ( Israel its self ) are now openly standing up and defending themselves and their homeland against nations that openly and even proudly state their desire to destroy - not only Israel but all jews as well- then the way to combat this is with truth , truth and more truth over and over again. Hot Israeli army '' babes '' may well sell magazines and but they do nothing to dispel the anti israel / semitism that pervades in the media , nor do they encourage the public to look deeper than the image and face of Israel and jews that the media presents to them.

(6)
joseph krieger,
July 1, 2007 10:34 AM

promotion

promotion of israel is one thing, but to clarify and answer the accusations of the arabs and palestinans is an other. this is the trouble with the speakers of israel. they speak with diplomacy andgo not to the ooint. israel did not chase out the palestinians, on the contrary they fled after they were promised that the combined armies would destroy israel.israel is not occupying territories, on the contrary, they went out of gaza. the road blocks are a defense against the terrorists which took thousands of innocent lives.they signed infinite ammount of peace treaties, which were never kept,therefore they cannot be trusted. if we shout this in the media and assembly, our image will rapidly change.

(5)
tamar boussi,
July 1, 2007 9:45 AM

promoting a "whole" Israel

Jonathon Tobin's article was excellent, important and correct, except one very large overlooked concern--To understand Israel means also seeing it as a complete state as all others, Israel 21c contributes immeasurably to this. Jews are people and Israel is a normal state and should be seen as such.

(4)
Anonymous,
July 1, 2007 9:13 AM

Jonathan Tobin's article is spot on.The media should be inundated with the truth and not with immature gimmicks

(3)
S,
July 1, 2007 8:49 AM

100% correct

I know people who used to or still do read Maxim. And when I saw the cover of the NY Post with this picture and the headline about ISRAEL something or other, I was completely horrified. This is what we're displaying for the world? HOw lost and far gone are we to stoop so low and so animalistic. We're so much better and holier than Maxim, et al. Although I know she did it willingly, I felt violated for Gal, and I felt violated for eretz yisrael, hurt that the consulate could dare do such a thing and bring Israel down to this level. Hashem have mercy, how far we've fallen!

(2)
avraham broide,
July 1, 2007 6:16 AM

skin trade is old secret.

Israel is carrying an old trick to its extreme. My father-in-law's new wife's most treasured photo is of her serving in the capacity of White House hostess three decades back. President Johnson once noticed her, commented on her good looks and she had a job - greeting foreign dignitories etc. Israel, as usual, takes things to an extreme.

I've been striving to get more into spirituality. But it seems that every time I make some progress, I find myself slipping right back to where I started. I'm getting discouraged and feel like a failure. Can you help?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

Spiritual slumps are a natural part of spiritual growth. There is a cycle that people go through when at times they feel closer to God and at times more distant. In the words of the Kabbalists, it is "two steps forward and one step back." So although you feel you are slipping, know that this is a natural process. The main thing is to look at your overall progress (over months or years) and be able to see how far you've come!

This is actually God's ingenious way of motivating us further. The sages compare this to teaching a baby how to walk. When the parent is holding on, the baby shrieks with delight and is under the illusion that he knows how to walk. Yet suddenly, when the parent lets go, the child panics, wobbles and may even fall.

At such times when we feel spiritually "down," that is often because God is letting go, giving us the great gift of independence. In some ways, these are the times when we can actually grow the most. For if we can move ourselves just a little bit forward, we truly acquire a level of sanctity that is ours forever.

Here is a practical tool to help pull you out of the doldrums. The Sefer HaChinuch speaks about a great principle in spiritual growth: "The external awakens the internal." This means that although we may not experience immediate feelings of closeness to God, eventually, by continuing to conduct ourselves in such a manner, this physical behavior will have an impact on our spiritual selves and will help us succeed. (A similar idea is discussed by psychologists who say: "Smile and you will feel happy.")

That is the power of Torah commandments. Even if we may not feel like giving charity or praying at this particular moment, by having a "mitzvah" obligation to do so, we are in a framework to become inspired. At that point we can infuse that act of charity or prayer with all the meaning and lift it can provide. But if we'd wait until being inspired, we might be waiting a very long time.

May the Almighty bless you with the clarity to see your progress, and may you do so with joy.

In 1940, a boatload 1,600 Jewish immigrants fleeing Hitler's ovens was denied entry into the port of Haifa; the British deported them to the island of Mauritius. At the time, the British had acceded to Arab demands and restricted Jewish immigration into Palestine. The urgent plight of European Jewry generated an "illegal" immigration movement, but the British were vigilant in denying entry. Some ships, such as the Struma, sunk and their hundreds of passengers killed.

If you seize too much, you are left with nothing. If you take less, you may retain it (Rosh Hashanah 4b).

Sometimes our appetites are insatiable; more accurately, we act as though they were insatiable. The Midrash states that a person may never be satisfied. "If he has one hundred, he wants two hundred. If he gets two hundred, he wants four hundred" (Koheles Rabbah 1:34). How often have we seen people whose insatiable desire for material wealth resulted in their losing everything, much like the gambler whose constant urge to win results in total loss.

People's bodies are finite, and their actual needs are limited. The endless pursuit for more wealth than they can use is nothing more than an elusive belief that they can live forever (Psalms 49:10).

The one part of us which is indeed infinite is our neshamah (soul), which, being of Divine origin, can crave and achieve infinity and eternity, and such craving is characteristic of spiritual growth.

How strange that we tend to give the body much more than it can possibly handle, and the neshamah so much less than it needs!